Twenty Two?
by Angela3275
Summary: My version of a final B&B scene for The Plain in the Prodigy since there wasn't one... continuing their earlier sex discussion. Rating for topic, not actual smut.


**Title: Twenty-two?**

**Pairing: Booth/Brennan  
Rating: M (Wasn't sure between T and M, so chose M to be safe)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bones. No infringement intended.**

**Author's Note: I was missing a final B&B scene from The Plain in the Prodigy…

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Brennan sat on Booth's couch enjoying dinner after they wrapped up the Levi Yoder case. She had been thinking about Booth's reaction to their virginity discussion earlier in the day. They had a conversation about sex and he _hadn't_ been edgy, in fact he had actually laughed about it. Of course she couldn't resist bringing it up again.

"Do you really think 22 is a good age?" Brennan asked suddenly and saw Booth's surprised look.

"Uh, what?" She had caught Booth mid-bite. He should be used to her random questions by now, but she still managed to catch him off guard. He looked at her curiously.

"Is 22 a good age to start having sex?" She was looking at him now, waiting for his response.

"For Michelle? Yes." He was vigorously nodding.

"What about you?" She was grinning at him now.

"No way. I could have never waited that long, but it's different for everyone." He would have never made it to 22, hell he wasn't sure how he had made it to 16.

"I didn't _plan_ on being 22, you know. That's just when I found – " Booth rolled his eyes.

"Some kind of Sex God, yeah, you told me." He set his plate down and turned to look at her.

"Well, I wouldn't say he was a God. Of course at the time I didn't have anything to compare it to, but he was very thorough and… selfless. Though looking back I would have to say he wasn't as adept as some of the others. Mark, for example, was – " Oh no, he did not need to know anymore about Mark. It was bad enough that she talked about his chest and thighs, and that he had seen him half-naked.

"That's enough of that! So, how did you know – I mean what made you so sure that he was the right person for such an 'important decision'?" Leave it to Bones to go about it methodically. He definitely hadn't been thinking with his _brain_ back then.

"I wasn't very well liked in high school, which effectively ruled out finding a suitable sexual partner then. In college, especially as I was further along into my degrees, I started to find myself around people that understood me, intellectually at least." She reflected back to that time in her life. She really hadn't wanted to wait until her 20's to start having sex. She did have sexual cravings in high school but didn't want to choose just _anyone_.

"Please tell me that it wasn't an experiment or something. I was only joking when I said it sounded like a class you took, so I hope that's not what you're saying." He knew that she was clinical, but _that_ would just be too much.

"No, Booth, it wasn't like that. He was older, and he had a number of sexual partners over the period of time that we were acquainted. They all appeared quite satisfied, so he seemed like a logical choice." Of course she would choose someone confident and indiscreet about his conquests. Bones had just been another notch on his belt. He was angry now. If he knew this guy was, he would be tempted to go kick his ass.

"So you weren't in love with him?" He knew the answer to that, but asked anyway. Brennan sighed and looked exasperated.

"Booth, you _know_ I don't believe in love. While I was attracted to him physically and found him mentally stimulating, there weren't any romantic notions involved in our coupling." Why did she constantly have to remind him that she didn't believe in love? It was like he expected her to change her mind for some reason.

"Well that's just – I don't know, Bones, for your first time it should be special." He wished he could come up with a better word that 'special'. That sounded juvenile, even to him.

"You already admitted that you weren't in love with the girl you had sex with at 16, Booth, how is what I did any different?" He seemed to be getting flustered now.

"It just is, okay. We were dating and I really cared about her." She assumed that Booth always did the honorable thing, so even though it wasn't love he felt for the girl, he at least respected her.

"I never dated Kevin, though we did have more than one sexual encounter." Kevin, huh? He could work with that. That would give him a starting point to find the SOB if he wanted. Booth smiled and Brennan looked confused as to why, but didn't say anything.

"'Encounter' just sounds so casual, Bones. Did he at least do it right?... you know, flowers, dinner, and not in the backseat of his car.. or the lab." He hoped the jerk had at least enough sense to make it memorable if not 'special'.

"No, Kevin wasn't a student, Booth. I worked as an intern at a hospital and he was one of the surgeons. He had been a trauma surgeon in the army but had recently been discharged." Aha. Kevin the ex-army surgeon. How many of those could there be? Bingo, baby!

"Just how much older was this guy, Bones, and why was he discharged?" He was mentally going through the list of reasons why someone would be discharged trying to figure him out.

"He was 29 at the time, though I don't see how that's relevant. He never said why he was discharged, but I can tell you it wasn't a _physical_ ailment." She was smiling and Booth guessed that she was thinking about Kevin. _That_ was not going to happen as long as he could help it.

"Okay, stop right there. So… what happened?" She looked amused at his reaction and insistence.

"It was in the on-call room at the hospital." He gasped and she looked at him in surprise.

"Bones!" He couldn't believe it. He hadn't put enough effort into it, and it had been so public. Anyone could have seen them, or heard them. He wondered if Bones was vocal during sex. Mmm, how he loved that. Okay, not a good idea right now. He cleared his throat.

"What?" She looked at him like she really didn't see what the big deal was.

"That's not romantic. That sounds like an episode of Grey's Anatomy." He scoffed.

"I've seen that. Angela's a fan, although the show is not entirely accurate." She seemed pleased that she knew what he was talking about for a change.

"And…?" He prompted her to finish the story.

"Kevin had been fairly obvious with his advances, so one night after work – "

"I get the picture." He wished he had known her back then. He would have done a much better job at… introducing her to… the whole thing.

"Well, in all fairness he couldn't have been expected to make a exceptional effort since he didn't know it was my first time." Woah, wait a minute!

"You didn't tell him?" He truly was shocked this time and he noticed that she actually looked slightly embarrassed, though she'd never admit it.

"Of course not. Being 22 and still a virgin is not common in this country. He assumed that I had sexual partners in the past and I didn't give him any reason to think otherwise." She hadn't really meant that. At the time she had convinced herself that it was a good idea so that it wouldn't be awkward, but she wished that he had known.

"Why would you do that, Bones?"

"I didn't want him to be any different with me than he was with any of those other girls. If he had known, he may have changed his behaviors and I wanted an unbiased experience." Sounded logical enough, even if she no longer – bought it. Angela would be proud that she used that one correctly.

"That's crazy!" Oops. Probably not a good idea to insult her, he thought.

"How was your first time superior to mine?" Yup, she was irritated and looking for an explanation.

"Well, we had feelings for each other, for one thing, and we were both in the same boat." Huh? Boats?

"I don't know what that means." He wished he had a nickel for every time she'd said that over the years.

"It means that it was her first time, too." Oh. Well that _couldn't_ have been very good, she thought.

"So she wasn't a very skilled lover." Now he looked irritated.

"It isn't about _skills_, Bones. We learned together as we went along. If I had wanted 'skilled' I would've just picked up a prostitute."

"You would never do that, especially at 16." Sometimes trying to talk to her was so infuriating.

"Of course not. That's not the point. I'm saying that you don't choose lovers based on skills, you choose them based on love or affection." Speak for yourself, she thought. She smirked at him and leaned toward him, and he had a feeling that he wasn't going to like what came next.

"If that were true, based on your explanation and the fact that we have a certain fondness for each other, we should have sex?" He looked uneasy now and that only made her smile wider.

"Uh – weren't we talking about Michelle? I had a little talk with Perry earlier, so I think we understand each other and we don't have to worry about the two of them… _you know_." He got up and started cleaning up their dinner mess.

"Why are you suddenly uncomfortable talking about sex? I don't understand you sometimes." She watched him walk toward the kitchen.

"It's mutual, Bones. Trust me." He muttered to himself.


End file.
